'Pack of animals' label judge 'nonce' as they are jailed for gruesome knife attack on boxer | UK | News

A “pack of animals” called a judge a “nonce” and a “pedophile” as he locked up the attackers for a total of nearly 50 years.

It came after boxer Anthony Dodson suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed in the heart during a nightclub brawl that spilled over into the street.

Mr Dodson is the son of former professional boxer Tony Dodson, who held the British super-middleweight title in 2003 and retired in 2016, the Liverpool Echo reports.

Anthony Dodson himself won the final of the Merseyside and Cheshire Youth Championships in 2020 and made it to the quarter-finals of the national championship, fighting for Gemini Boxing Club in Speke.

Milne Critchley, Adam Draper, Lee Duffy, Jordan Kinsella, Eugene Mason-Lamb, George Miller and Cameron Quinn, as well as a 17-year-old boy who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were found guilty of offences including assault occasioning actual bodily harm and violent disorder following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court in connection with the brawl in the early hours of the morning.

On Monday, six of the attackers were sentenced to a total of 46 years in prison. One was spared an immediate prison sentence; the young man will learn his fate today.

Sentencing judge Stuart Driver, KC, was bombarded with paedophile references as he brought the six to justice.

The judge had previously stated: “A punch from George Miller sparked violent disturbances in the club involving several of the defendants. In the incident, a man was punched and kicked with a bottle while he was on the ground. The bottle was then thrown to inflict a head wound on another man. A knife was brandished.

“Most of the defendants were ejected but remained outside. A few minutes later, one of the victims, Kia Robinson, came out and was attacked by about half a dozen men who had at least three weapons – a knife, a sharp piece of glass and a large fan – and he suffered a head wound and other injuries.

“His friend Alex Murphy tried to protect him. He was stabbed in the back with a piece of glass and slashed with a knife. The victims then went back inside. The group of defendants waited for them outside.

“A few minutes later, the four victims came out and were confronted by a much larger group. The footage shows the small group walking backwards and backing away as a large group approaches them, throwing rockets.

“Anthony Dodson was isolated and alone. He was surrounded and beaten, kicked and stabbed. His injuries were certainly life-threatening.

“He is lucky to be alive. Emergency services reached him almost immediately when he was lying on the street. Had they not been there, his family would likely have experienced a tragedy and the defendants would have been charged with murder.

“He has not fully recovered. An eyewitness described the defendants as a pack of animals. No reasonable person could contradict that.

“It was a group attack by ten people on one person. In any case, the charge is mitigated by the fact that not every defendant actually inflicted the knife wound.”

Some of those involved in the violence burned designer clothes in a park and then attempted to escape to France as illegal stowaways on a truck.

Mr Dodson was found collapsed at the junction of Church Street and Whitechapel in Liverpool at around 5am on December 27 last year. He had been stabbed twice in the heart and twice in the armpit.

The 21-year-old stopped breathing and suffered cardiac arrest, but thanks to the intervention of the doctors his “life was saved”.

The problems at the Safehouse Club began around 5 a.m. when “things got ugly” in the bar, Ball told the court.

He said: “This safe house was anything but that. The violence that we are concerned about started in the bar but continued shortly afterwards on the street.”

After the attacks, Critchley, of Sprucewood Close in Anfield, left the grounds in a taxi with a man called Luke Bowland, while Draper, Duffy, Kinsella, Miller and the teenager left the city centre on foot via St John's Gardens. Draper, of St David's Road in Huyton, had earlier disposed of a folding knife in an industrial waste bin near German Doner Kebab.

Critchley's “distinctive” black Givenchy jumper was subsequently discovered “charred but recognisable” alongside several burnt mobile phones at Thirlmere Park in Everton, in what was described as “an attempt to destroy evidence that would link him and others to the incident”.

He, Draper, Quinn and Mr Bowland were later arrested in Folkstone, Kent, after attempting to leave the United Kingdom for France as illegal stowaways in the back of a lorry.

Kinsella and Mason-Lamb were arrested by officers while they were “en route”, while Duffy, Miller and the teenager turned themselves in to police. Jones was wanted by Merseyside Police but his whereabouts are “currently unknown”.

Four of the men who appear in the footage to be involved in the incident have not been identified by police. Mr Bowland, meanwhile, has been “ruled out as having participated in, encouraged or assisted in the violence committed by his friends”.

Mr Ball described Mr Dodson as having an “uncertain prognosis” because his “heart is not functioning properly”.

Critchley was found guilty of wounding with intent after admitting violent disorder. Groans could be heard in the public gallery and a woman left the courtroom crying as he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He must serve two-thirds of that time behind bars before he can be released.

Judge Driver told him: “You were a prominent member of the gang violence on Peter Street. You took part in a gang attack on Kia Robinson, who was vastly outnumbered and punched, kicked and struck with a weapon. That in itself was a serious crime which deserves a lengthy prison sentence.

“Another aggravating circumstance is your conduct afterwards. You burned evidence or had it burned and fled the country to escape.”

Draper was convicted by a jury of assault. The 21-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison and will face a two-year serious violence prevention order upon his release.

The judge said in his case: “Your previous conviction for possession of a sharp object in a public place is being aggravated. This is particularly worrying.”

“You were seen hiding a knife in a trash can immediately after this incident. It cannot be proven that this was the knife used to inflict the wound, but it must have been in the possession of one of the attackers during the incident. You also fled the country after that.”

Miller admitted violent disorder but was found guilty of wounding with intent. Further charges were heard in court as the 20-year-old was sentenced to ten years in prison, of which he must serve at least two-thirds in custody.

Judge Driver added: “You started it all with an unprovoked punch in the nightclub. You later took part in violent disturbances in the street, violently attacking an outnumbered man who was punched and kicked in Peter Street. He was injured with a weapon and another man was stabbed.”

Quinn was found guilty of two counts of wounding with intent after pleading guilty to violent disorder. He stood in the dock with his arms folded and shrugged as he was sentenced to 12 years in prison, of which he must serve two-thirds, while a co-defendant patted him on the back.

The judge told him: “You stabbed Alex Murphy in the back with a piece of glass during violent disturbances which were essentially a group attack on Kia Robinson. This conviction for two offences under section 18, involving intentional bodily harm to two different victims in two separable incidents, is very serious indeed and you must receive a longer sentence than any of your co-defendants. In addition, you subsequently fled the jurisdiction.”

Kinsella was found guilty of wounding with intent after admitting violent disorder. The 29-year-old nodded as he was sentenced to four years in prison.

Duffy was convicted of assault, attempted assault and possession of a knife in a public place. He also pleaded guilty to violent disorder and was sentenced to six years in a young offenders' institution.

Judge Driver said of him: “To make matters worse, you used the knife you had with you to attempt to slash the arm of a man who had just been stabbed in the back by someone else. You brandished the knife around the club after kicking a victim when he was already on the ground.”

The men's defense attorneys had previously asked the judge for leniency, saying the defendants viewed the attack with great remorse.

But when the six were led to their cells, shouts could be heard from the dock such as “You are a nanny!”, “Judge Driver, you are touching children!” and “You are a little paedophile!”

They were also seen giving a thumbs up to their followers, who in turn told them: “Love you.”

Mason-Lamb, who was barred from the dock, admitted violent disorder after being acquitted of charges of wounding with intent and unlawful intent following his trial. Cheers of “yes” and applause could be heard from the public gallery as he was sentenced to a 15-month suspended prison sentence, 100 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation requirement of up to 25 days.

The teenager was found guilty of two counts of wounding with intent and admitted violent disorder. Sentence will be announced later in the day.